Soaking apparatus



Jan. 10, 1928. 1,655,955

J. L. HEROLD SOAKING APPARATUS Filed March 1926 Till hil

till

patented den. 10, T928.

tJlTED STATES PATENT fll tlttjtt.

dllillllhltil Ir. HEROLD, F LUUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNGR TUHtl.lt1tif'-itfltHMILLER Mid .M'r" UUMPAM'Y, OF .Et'lt. LO'Ulfi,MISSOURI, a l. CORPORATION GEE Mi l SOAKING AEIEARATUEL applicationfiled March 18, 1926.

This invention relates generally to bottlesoahinp; apparatus, and morespecifically to a bottle soalrer having a plurality of con1- partinentscontaining liquid through which the bottles pass during the soelringopera tion. The predominant object of the invert-- tion is to produce asoaher of the class de scribed which is provided. with means wl1erehythe liquid which collects in the bottles while said bottles are passingthrough any one of the compartments oil the soalter will draintherefroin into said compartment he tore said bottles pass to anothercompartruent.

l-tnothcr object of the invention is to produce a soalrer so constructedthat the liquid in the compartments is maintained at a higher level thanheretofore.

lV-ith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention comprisesthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore specifically described. and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings 'i vherein is shown the preferred einbodiwent at the invention.However, it is to he understood that the invention colnprehends changes,variations and modifications which ooine within the scope of the claimshereunto appended l is a traginentary vertical section oi a soalrer madein accordance with any inrelation,

Fig ll a cross section taken on line ltll-ll oil lt i u lln the drawing-.tit designatesiny improved soaher which comprises a housing or tank '1d uded into coin iartinents B, G and l) by part ionsQ. The partitions 23extend trans versely of the housing or tanla; 1, as shown in Fig". ill,and said partitions are each pro-- vided with i'langes 2" at the bottomand side edges thereof whereby said partitions may be secured to thebottom and side walls of ti housing or tanh l. will he noted byreferring to l, the top edges oi the partitions 91 are spaced apart in adownward direction from the top wall of the housing or tank It. Theeonipartn ents l3 C and I) produced by the partitions 2 are entirelyseparate tron'i each other so that liquid which is contained in any oneof said C0l11- Serial No. 95,5 l6.

carrier which is adapted to travel in a tortuous course through saidhousing. Each of the compartments ll C and D contains liquid assuggested in liig. I, and the oottles supported by the bottle carrierpass through successive bodies oi? liquid.

The bottle carrier comprises apair of end less flexible travelingsupports preierahly sprocket chains 3 located at opposite sides Off theapparatus as shown in ill, and a series ol bottle holders at havingtheir ends secured in any suitable manner to the oppositely disposed sn'ochet chains 3. The bottle holders may he oi any suitable constructionand may he provided with any suitable means for preventing; bottles frombeing dislodged from said bottle holders durinp; the passage of saidbottles throiugh the housing l, but as the bottle holders tl orln nopart of the present invention no attempt has i3G11llllCl6l10COIHPlGtGljfillustrate thenl, nor will they be described in detailw 5 and t3designate a plurality of guide wheels over which the sprocltet chains 3ep erate. The guide wheels 5 are located adjacent to the upper ends oi?the partitions 2 and are oilset from said partitions in a directionlongitudinal with respect to the soaker, as shown in Fig I, while theguide wheels 6 are located within the compartments B, C and D at thelower ends thereof" The sprocltet chains 5 pass over the guide wheels 5and 6; and because oi the arrange ment ol said guide wheels the bottlecarriers and the bottles supported thereby pass downwardly into each ofthe cornpartinents t-lience upwardly in said compartments over thepartition separating; the compartment through which the bottles havejust passed from the next succeeding; compartment, and then downwardlyinto said neat con1partinent. This tortuous course is traveled by thebottles until said bottles have passed successively through the bodiesof liquid in each of the compartments cmnprising the housing of theapparatus.

The arrangement oil offsetting the guide wheels 5 with respect to thepartitions S2 is an important :teature of my invention :tor the reasonthat it renders it possible to maintain a higher liquid level in eachoi? the compartments than was possible heretotorc. Prior to thisinvention the uide wheels at the upper ends at the partitions were inill ltlfi approximate vertical alinement with said partitions, hence itwas necessary to cut out portions to receive the guide wheels. Theresult of these cut-out portions in the parti tions was to reduce theheight or the liquid within the compartments, for it is plain that thelevel of the liquid had to be maintained below the cut-out portions inthe partitions to prevent the liquid from one compartment overflowinginto the adjacent compartment. By referring to'Fig. I it will be notedthat the liquid levels in the various compartments are some distanceabove the bottom of the guide wheels 5 whereby a longer period ofsoaking is provided for the bottles as they pass through eachcompartment.

Arranged at the upper ends of the partitions 2 and at the opposite sidesof the soaker is a plurality of arcuate guiding members 7, there being apair of oppos1te 1y disposed guiding members 7 associated with eachindividual partition 2, as shown in Fig. II. The guiding members aresocured by means of bolts 8 or other suitable securing devices to theside walls of the housing 1, and said guiding members are so shaped thatthe sprocket chains 3 will be guided over the upper ends of thepartitions 2 to the adjacent guide wheels 5. As shown in the drawing thesprocket chains 3 contact with the guide members 7 to guide saidsprocket chains around. the upper ends of the partitions 2, and to avoidexcessive triction between said chains and said guiding members thechains are preferably provided with rollers 9 (Fig. II). V

Associated with each individual partition 2 is a drain board 10, saiddrain boards preferably, though not necessarily, comprising each anintegral part of the associated partition and being inclined withrespect to the horizontal, as shown in I, whereby any liquid which isdeposited on said drain boards will be directed into the compartments.The drain boards 10 are each provided with upwardly extended flanges 11at the opposite ends thereof to prevent the liquid flowing over the endsof said drain boards.

To describe the operation of my improved soaker it will be assumed thatbottles are passing through the compartment B. lVhen these bottles reacha point adjacent to the lower ends of the arcuate guide members 7 at theupper end of the partition dividing the compartments B and C the neckportions of said bottles will be pointed downwardly. As soon as thebottles have passed out of the liquid within the compartment liquidwhich has collected in said bottles during their passage through thecompartment B will commence to drain therefrom. The openings inthe neckportions of the bottles are, of course, much smaller than the inonecompartment to another.

teriors of said bottles, hence the draining action would be a ratherslow one and as a result the bottles would be carried beyond thepartition 2 before they would be completely drained. It apparent,therefore, in the absence of the drain boards 10 that the liquid fromthe compartment B would be drained from the bottles into the compartmentC and that the liquid from the compartment C would be transmitted inthis manner into the compartment D. This transmission of liquid from onecompartment to another is quite undesirable due to the fact that thesoaking liquid in the diliferent compartments of my improved soaker areof varying strengths and must be kept so tor successful results.

In the operation of my improved soaker, however, the liqridv from thecompartment B does not drain from the bottles into the compartment C,nor does the liquid from the compartment C drain :lfrom the bottles intothe conunirtment I), for the reason that said liquid drains from thebottles onto the inclined drain boards 10 and said liquid is directed bysaid drain boards into the coinpartment from which it came.

Seakers ot the type described herein ordiarily are provided with a greatnumber of bottle holders l, but for the sake of sun plicity ofillustration I have shown only a few of said bottle holders in Fig. I ofthe drawing.

Each guide bar 7 has a long curved face over which a conveyor chaintravels and the curve extends from a point considerably lower than thetop of a partition 2 to a point above the partition, so the bottles aretilted for drainage during a relatively long period. Each guide bar 7lies at one side of a partition 2 and it is associated with a guidewheel 5 at the opposite side, the object of this feature being to locatethe upper edge of the partition at an elevation higher than the loweredges of the guide members, thereby providing for the relatively highwater level without causing an overflow from This enables the desiredliquid levels to be maintained in a relatively shallow tank, and sincethe tanks are usually very large the saving effected by reducing theheight of the tank is an important consideration.

I claim:

1. A bottle soaker comprising a housing, partitions whereby said housingis divided into a plurality of compartments adapted to receive liquid,inclined drain boards extending upwardly from said partitions, an endless traveling conveyor, supporting elements for said endless conveyor,bottle carriers supported by said endless conveyor, and means arrangedadjacent to said partitions whereby said endless conveyor is deflectedto permit all of the liquid within the bottles iii carried by saidendless conveyor to drain tl'ieret'rom into one compartment before saidbottles pass to another compartment.

A bottle soaker comprising a housing, partitions whereby said housing isdivided into a plurality of compartments adapted to receive liquid, anendless traveling bottle conveyor, supporting elements for said endlesstraveling bottle conveyor, inclined drain boards extending upwardly fromthe partitions, said supporting elements being arranged adjacent to theupper ends of said partitions and being ofl'set from said partitions soas to lie between the ends of said drain boards and the side walls 01Esaid housing.

3. In an apparatus oi the character de scribed, a housing provided witha partition whereby it is divided into compartments, a traveling bottleconveyor movable over said partition to pass from one compartment toanother, and guide members arranged at opposite sides or said partitionto guide said conveyor over the upper edge of the part3ition, the lowerportions of said guide members being lower than the upper edge of saidpartition and the upper portions being higher than the partition.

at In anapparatns of the character described, a housing provided with apartition whereby it is divided into compartments, a traveling bottleconveyor movable over said partition to pass t'rom one compartment toanother, and guide members arranged at opposite sides of said partitionto guide said conveyor over the upper edge of the parti tion, one oi?said guide members being an elongated bar having a curved guiding faceextending from a point lower than the top of said partition to a pointabove the partinon.

In an apparatus of the character described, a housing provided with apartition whereby it is divided into compartments, a traveling bottleconveyor movable over said partition to pass from one compartment toanother, and guide members arranged at opposite sides of said partitionto guide said conveyor over the upper edge of the partition, one of saidguide members being an elongated bar having a curved guiding faceattending from a point lower than the top of said partition to a pointabove the par tition, and the other guide member being a wheel having anupper portion higher than the top of the partition and a lower portionlower than the top of the partition.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto afiiir my signature.

JAMES L. HEROLD.

